Helmets came into use in the Middle East at a very early date. Among
the oldest recovered specimens are Sumerian bronze helmets of the
mid–3rd millennium B.C.E. from the royal cemetery of Ur. During the
9th–7th centuries B.C.E., bronze and iron helmets of different types
became widespread in the Assyrian Empire. In the Caucasus region, local
craftsmen influenced by Assyrian industry produced several types of
Urartian helmets, mainly in bronze but some also in iron.

The Iranian tradition of helmet making is very old. Elam produced
hemispherical bronze helmets with decorative figures of deities and also
one of a bird—perhaps a type of raptor. (See Figs 1–54 for this and
the following examples.) The figures were first sculpted in bitumen, then
overlaid with thin layers of silver and gold; and further details were
incised, such as figures of gods. Some of them are masterpieces unequaled
in ancient Near Eastern art. They can be dated to the 14th century B.C.E.
(Muscarella, 1988, pp. 223-29). A number of bronze and iron helmets dating
from the 9th-8th centuries have been found at western Iranian sites (e.g.,
Hasanlu, Mârlik, Safidrud). They are either conical or hemispherical, and
some of them are richly decorated.

Classical authors provide some information on Persian helmets of the
Achaemenid period. According to Herodotus (7.84), the cavalry of Xerxes
included some Persians who "wore helmets of bronze and wrought
steel." Xenophon reports that mounted warriors, charioteers, and
soldiers forming the king's bodyguard wore helmets; and he adds that the
helmets worn by rulers were of gold, i.e., gilded (Cyropaedia
6.1.51, 6.4.1-2, 7.1.2; Anabasis 1.8.6). Helmets are also mentioned
in Babylonian documents of the Achaemenid period (Ebeling, 1952, p. 208).
In later Greek and Roman sources, when the inhabitants of Central Asia are
described, helmets—kranos or galea (helmet of
leather)—are mentioned, but only in connection with Arians (Diodorus
17.83; Curtius 8.4.33; see Litvinsky and P'yankov, 1966, p. 43).

Of the few actual finds, the most interesting is a bell-shaped helmet
of gilded bronze from Olympia, which bears a Greek inscription stating
that it had been captured from the "Medes" at the beginning of
the 5th century, possibly in the battle of Marathon (Mallwitz and
Herrmann, 1980, p. 96, Pl. 58). Helmets are also represented on a number
of art objects. A fine example is that worn by a warrior depicted on a
gold plaque from the Oxus Treasure (Dalton, 1964, pp. 73-74, Pl. XV, no.
84).

In the 6th century
B.C.E., bronze helmets of the Kuban type (named
after finds in the basin of the Kuban River) were in use among the
Scythians of Central Asia and the northern Black Sea. These were cast, and
egg-shaped, deeper towards the back and with a wide opening in front. They
were provided with longitudinal crests and holes along the edge to fasten
the helmet to a mail piece. Their origin is disputed; some argue for the
Middle East, others for China. In the 5th to 3rd centuries B.C.E.,
modified Greek helmets of the Corinthian, Chalcidian, Attic, and Thracian
types were in use (Chernenko, 1968, pp. 74-98, figs. 39-59).

During the Hellenistic period, certain types of Hellenistic helmets,
especially the Boeotian type and its local variants, became popular in
Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The clearest evidence is provided by
the portraits of Greco-Bactrian rulers on their coins and by bronze and
iron moveable cheekpieces discovered in the Oxus temple in Bactria.

Helmets of the Parthian period are known from works of art. A
sculptured head from Nisa (2nd–1st cent. B.C.E.) wears a bowl-shaped
helmet with corrugated visor, high crest, and moveable cheekpieces. This
type of helmet probably goes back to Hellenistic prototypes. Ares and
Athena depicted on the rhyta from Nisa wear helmets of different types. A
late Parthian helmet appears on the rock-relief in Firuzâbâd. It is a
hemispherical helmet of a noble Parthian with a neck-guard surmounted with
a knob and a plume. Graffiti from Dura-Europos depict late Parthian
conical helmets of several rows of metal plates fastened together with
rivets (Du Mesnil du Buisson, 1936, pp. 192-97, fig. 16; Rostov-tzeff,
1933, p. 216, pl. XXXIII/2; Ghirshman, 1962, figs. 62, 100, 165; James,
1986, pp. 118-28, figs. 13-18; Gall, 1990, p. 69; Invernizzi, 1999, pp.
22-24, fig. 6, pl. A).

Several types of helmets were in use in Central Asia in the Kushan
period. In Bactria there were conical ribbed helmets. One of the
Khalchayan sculptures shows an egg-shaped helmet with a low visor
projecting forward and a horizontal welt running along the edge of the
bowl. Remains of a Kushan helmet made of narrow vertical plates of iron
were found in Charsada (Chârsada).

The helmet was a standard item in Sasanian armor
(Tabari, tr. Nöldeke,
Geschichte der Perser, pp. 248-49). Finds of early Sasanian helmets
include one from Dura-Europos consisting of two halves riveted to two bars
and provided with a pointed apex; a mail piece was attached to its lower
edge. Many figures represented on Sasanian rock reliefs of the 3rd-4th
centuries C.E. wear hemispherical helmets with neckpieces and bindings
along the base. On Naqš-e Rostam No. 5, the cap is ornamented and has a
knob on the top, while a mail piece is attached to the lower edge
(Herrmann, 1977, p. 7, Pls. 1-3). The greater ayvân of Tâq-e Bostân
attributed to K¨osrow II (591-628) shows a different kind of helmet,
namely the "segmented" or "'four-spanged helmet" [spangen
helmet] (Fukai and Horiuchi, 1972, Pl. 36; Fukai et al., 1984, pp. 69-70);
several helmets of this type are known. These are egg-shaped, made of four
vertical iron segments fastened below with a horizontal bronze rim, from
which come wide bronze bands crossing at the top. To these bands the iron
segments are riveted; the latter are covered with thin, silver leaves for
ornamentation. The horizontal rim has holes in its lower part through
which a piece of chain mail extending from the shoulders was attached to
the helmet (Granicsay, 1948-49, pp. 272-81; Harper, 1978, pp. 89-90, fig.
31; Overlaet, 1982, pp. 193-96, Pls. I-V). For a detailed discussion about
the origin and typology of Sasanian helmets, see von Gall, 1990, pp.
69-72.

Monumental art of Central Asia indicates that in that region several
other types of helmets were used in the 6th-7th centuries. The most common
was a sphero-conical helmet, which was hemispheroid in its lower half but
gradually turned into a cone towards the top and was surmounted with a
finial ornament. The rim was decorated with festoons. Often it was
provided with a narrow bar protecting the nose and with cheekpieces. A
piece of chain mail attached to the helmet covered the neck, shoulders,
and almost the whole face except the eyes. Such helmets were most often
constructed of metal plates, although there were also some made of
multiple scales mounted on leather background (Shishkin, 1963, p. 163, Pl.
XVII; Belenitski, 1973, Pls. 8, 9, 12, 21; Raspopova, 1980, p. 84, figs.
57-59).

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